Headshots and Business Portraits

Headshots are the bread and butter of many photography businesses, and the ones that sell are the ones where the subject looks confident. Peter Hurley's methods of directing and posing anchor this set, alongside one-light setups that work at home or in a corporate office, high-volume workflows for schools and companies, the cinematic headshot style, and the business-portrait mistakes that cost repeat clients.

The Easiest One-Light Setup for Professional Headshots

Pye Jirsa builds a one-light headshot with a Profoto A1 on a MagMod cold shoe and an umbrella, using an 85mm or longer lens. He kills ambient at f/5.6, ISO 200 and 1/200, places the flash above the face at 45 degrees for butterfly lighting, adjusting height for catchlights.